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Paola Profeta's speech at the G20 Conference on Women's Empowerment on the measures to be taken to reverse the shecession that has hit the Western world after COVID19

Women's empowerment is an issue that is becoming even more important in a time of pandemic that has increased the challenges that women have to face on all levels. Paola Profeta, Director of the AXA Research Lab on Gender Equality at Bocconi and Professor of Public Finance, on the occasion of the G20 Conference on Women's Empowerment, discussed the topic of women in the labor world (specifically, Labor and Economic Empowerment and Work-Life Balance).

"She-cession" is the term given to the recession that affected women far more than men during the pandemic period around the world. According to Profeta, it is essential to focus on women's labor for possible post-COVID-19 recovery, therefore also reflecting on what measures and actions to put in place for a she-recovery.

With this in mind, this year the G20, the international forum that brings together the world's major economies, has organized for the first time the event dedicated to women empowerment. It focuses on the quality of women's work, the implementation of policies aimed at increasing women's participation in positions of leadership, the protection of women's rights, and on tackling gender-based violence. The results of the discussion will be collected by the Italian Presidency and brought to the attention of the G20 Leaders ahead of the 2021 Rome Summit on 30-31 October.

On an international level, the need to accelerate the empowerment of women in all fields emerges, including public finance. According to Profeta, "the representation of women in the discipline of public finance is still a sore point". In fact, within the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF), the world organization of Public Finance economists founded with the aim of playing a role in giving economics an orientation towards the real world, there is still a strong disparity between men and women. Paola Profeta, who had been elected to IIPF's board of management in the previous three-year term (2018-21) and was recently re-elected for the 2021-24 term, will continue to push for the promotion of gender equality.

Paola Profeta was also recently named in the list of Inspiring Fifty, an initiative of accelerateHER, which rewards the fifty Italian female excellences who have distinguished themselves in scientific and digital disciplines.

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